HANNA – The Southeast High School Lady Cyclones’ snagged the No. 2 seed in the 1A Southeast Quadrant with a crucial 52-22 victory against Hanna-Elk Mountain (HEM) at an away game on February 17.

Southeast’s offense and defense gelled, particularly in the second and third quarters, to pull ahead, 41-16, as the fourth quarter began. The Lady Cyclones’ second string entered the fray to finish off the job in the final eight minutes of regulation.

Southeast enters the 1A Regional Tournament in Laramie this weekend with a 5-1 conference record. Regionals begins for the Lady Cyclones with a February 22 game against Kaycee, No. 3 in the Northeast, at 8:30 p.m.

“The girls played well (against HEM),” head coach Jennifer Scheer said. “Our defense was stout for most of the night. Offensively, we had better looks and were smarter with opportunities. From here on out in the postseason, it is a one-game season. We just have to take care of ourselves and do what we do best. We will work hard on our defensive end to set ourselves up for opportunities offensively each night at regionals.”

The Lady Cyclones won a physical first quarter, 9-4. Junior Kaycee Kosmicki set the pace on defense with a steal. Sophomore Hadley Leithead netted a jumper and snagged two steals.

Senior Sasha Haines grabbed a steal, setting up senior Baylie Booth to convert an and-1.

Junior Brooklyn Leithead scored from the charity stripe. Kosmicki rustled another steal and Booth drained an outside shot.

Pulling out all the stops in the second quarter, Southeast topped HEM in scoring, 18-6. Six Lady Cyclones contributed to the second-quarter tally, led by Booth with eight points. Kosmicki, Hadley Leithead, Haines, senior Kylee Llewellyn and sophomore Macy Tremain each posted a close-range shot.

Kosmicki, Haines and Llewellyn each snapped up steals before halftime.

Maintaining its momentum into the third quarter, Southeast tossed in 14 points while a gritty Lady Cyclones’ defense held HEM to six.

Kosmicki and Haines both kicked off the second half with steals and Kosmicki posted six points for the Lady Cyclones’ offense. A close-range shot by junior Anna Hartman pulled Southeast up by 20 points, 34-14.

Kosmicki netted another seven points in the final quarter. Freshman Haylee Eckwall joined the game and scored from inside the perimeter.

Booth led Southeast in scoring against HEM with 18 points. Kosmicki contributed 15 points, Hadley Leithead five and Haines four. Hartman tallied three points with two apiece by Tremain, Llewellyn and Ekwall and a free throw from Brooklyn Leithead.